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CAREER ADVICE

How to become a team secretary

Team secretaries are always in demand because they support more than one colleague, making them more cost effective to employers than Personal Assistants. They are able to deliver efficiencies for teams and look after administrative work that might take up the time of other team members.

But what does the role actually involve? We look at the key responsibilities and requirements becoming a team secretary.

Experience employers look for

Most team secretaries are educated to A-Level standard and some have degrees. To get a good role, you’ll need experience at a blue-chip or FTSE 250 company and have strong Excel, PowerPoint and Word abilities.

Experience of Dealer Board phone systems and Concur or SAP expenses programs also look good on a CV, while a Quest background and Pittman qualifications really make candidates stand out.

You’ll need to be a good multi-tasker

You would need to have the ability to manage multiple diaries – we typically recruit team secretaries overseeing the schedules of four to 15 people, but some working on trading floors might be responsible for up to 50. Most team secretaries also organise domestic and international travel for their teams, attend meetings and liaise with clients face-to-face and on the phone. Being able to work to deadlines is absolutely crucial to success.

Right attitude is crucial

The right attitude is vital – people able to demonstrate this effectively at interview are most likely to be successful in securing a team secretary job.

Employers are looking for people who want to go the extra mile and are pro-active. If a director has a meeting at ten, the team secretary needs to have provided him or her with all the information he or she needs by nine. It’s this sort of forward thinking that is required on a day-to-day basis.

Team secretaries also need to be flexible – if there’s work that needs doing, they need to be prepared to stay in the office to get it done. Those interested in the role need to realise it’s not always a 9-5 job.

What can team secretary jobs lead to?

If you’re interested in becoming a team secretary, you should never look at it as a stepping stone to bigger and better things. But if you prove yourself, opportunities will follow.

Most team secretaries will have the opportunity to move into the industry they are working in, providing it does not require a high level of technical expertise. We have seen few examples of team secretaries who start off supporting a marketing team who end up becoming marketers and progress down that route.

Most team secretaries are educated to A-Level standard and some have degrees. To get a good role, you’ll need experience at a blue-chip or FTSE 250 company and have strong Excel, PowerPoint and Word abilities.